Edgar was born October 29, 1929, in Hamilton County, Indiana, the son of Ernest L and Gladys Cox Mathews. He married Jane Murphy March 23, 1951, in Vevay, Indiana. She survives.

Edgar was a farmer for 62 years and also drove a bus for Jennings County School Corporation for 21 years. He was a board member for South Eastern Indiana R.E.M.C. and Farm Bureau Insurance, was a member of First Baptist Church, where he had served as a deacon, and a member of Otter Creek Baptist Church. He had been a trustee for Campbell Township for eight years, served on the Jefferson County Proving Grounds Reorganization Council and assisted with the location of Brush Creek Elementary School. He was a 1948 graduate of Butlerville High School.

He enjoyed operating his bulldozer, backhoe and grain semi and traveling to Europe and the Middle East, including Israel and the Holy Land, and had visited 40 states. He also enjoyed attending Sunday school and church, researching history, following the stock market and spending time with his family.

He is survived by his wife, Jane Mathews of Butlerville, Indiana; his two children, Dave (Deb) Mathews of Newburgh, Indiana, and Susan (Eric) Hoffman of Fisherville, Kentucky; four grandchildren, Ryan Mathews of Zao, Japan, Makenzi (Chase) Hunter of Westport, Kentucky, Keenan Mathews of Newburgh, Indiana, and Sydney Hoffman of Fisherville, Kentucky.

He was preceded in death by his parents and an infant son, Edgar Dean Mathews.

Funeral service will be conducted at 11:00 a.m. Monday, May 6, 2013, at Dove-Sharp & Rudicel Funeral Home and Cremation Services in North Vernon, with the Rev. Bob Weeks officiating. Friends may call at Dove-Sharp & Rudicel on Sunday, May 5, 2013, from 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. Burial will be at Vernon Cemetery in Vernon, Indiana.

Memorials may be made through Dove-Sharp & Rudicel Home and Cremation Services to First Baptist Church Building Fund.

You are invited to leave the family a message of condolence at www.dovesharprudicel.com.